Hepatitis C Knowledge and Recent Diagnosis Affect Hepatitis C Treatment Willingness in Persons Living With HIV

The British HIV Association national clinical audit 2021: Management of HIV and hepatitis C coinfection

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to describe clinical policies for the management of people with HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection and to audit routine monitoring and assessment of people with HIV/HCV coinfection attending UK HIV care.

METHODS

This was a clinic survey and retrospective case-note review. HIV clinics in the UK participated in the audit from May to July 2021 by completing an online questionnaire regarding their clinic's policies for the management of people with HIV/HCV coinfection, and by contributing to a case-note review of people living with HIV with detectable HCV RNA who were under the care of their service.

RESULTS

Ninety-five clinics participated in the clinic survey; of these, 15 (15.8%) were regional specialist centres, 19 (20.0%) were HIV services with their own coinfection clinics, 40 (42.1%) were HIV services that referred coinfected individuals to a local hepatology service and 20 (21.1%) were HIV services that referred to a regional specialist centre. Eighty-one clinics provided full caseload estimates; of the approximately 3951 people with a history of HIV/HCV coinfection accessing their clinics, only 4.9% were believed to have detectable HCV RNA, 3.15% of whom were already receiving or approved for direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment. In total, 29 (30.5%) of the clinics reported an impact of COVID-19 on coinfection care, including delays or reductions in the frequency of services, monitoring, treatment initiation and appointments, and changes to the way that treatment was dispensed. Case-note reviews were provided for 283 people with detectable HCV RNA from 74 clinics (median age 42 years, 74.6% male, 56.2% HCV genotype 1, 22.3% HCV genotype 3). Overall, 56% had not received treatment for HCV, primarily due to lack of engagement in care (54.7%) and/or being uncontactable (16.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings show that the small number of people with HIV with detectable HCV RNA in the UK should mean that it is possible to achieve HCV micro-elimination. However, more work is needed to improve engagement in care for those who are untreated for HCV.